In a nutshell: My search for good vegetarian & nonvegetarian Italian food (leaving aside 5 star Hotels) in Gurgaon ended here. A rare experience of 4 starters & maincourse coming out to be excellent back to back , followed by superb desserts. Highly recommended by YUMMRAJ. Address & other details: 56 Meal for 2: Rs. 1500 onwards Cuisine type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian Disclaimer: All … Continue reading 56 Ristorante Italiano (Ground Floor, Vatika Atrium, Sector 53, Golf Course Road, Gurgaon)
In a nutshell: An ornate & beautiful Italian restaurant with an Expat host, good service, great ambience & tasty & almost authentic Italian food. Address & other details: La Tagliatella Meal for 2: Rs. 700 onwards Cuisine type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips … Continue reading La Tagliatella (Upper Ground Floor, Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, Delhi)
In a nutshell: Located in a ‘happening’ mall, this restaurant with a nice ambience serves average Italian food with few exceptions. Address & other details: Italia Meal for 2: Rs. 1000 onwards Cuisine type : Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even … Continue reading Italia (309 & 310, 2nd Floor, DLF Promenade Mall, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi)
In a nutshell: A tiny shop in the food court that has been consistently serving very good ‘non Indianized’ Italian food for almost a decade now & I wud say the second best Italian joint in Gurgaon keeping aside the fine dining restaurants. Address & other details: Beside Mc Donalds on the Food Court area Meal for 2: Rs. 400 onwards Cuisine type : Vegetarian … Continue reading Wow Italia – Stone Oven La Piazza (Food Court MGF Mall, MG Road, Gurgaon)
This is a late add to YUMMRAJ’s series called TIMELESS KOLKATA EATOUTS – reviews of Heritage Kolkata restaurants. Each restaurant has been rated as ‘Old is Gold’ or ‘Old is no more Gold’ based on the experience.
Year/decade of opening- Around Independence.
YUMMRAJ Demystifies the Legend of Peter Cat & maintains OLD IS GOLD
In a nutshell:
A retro restaurant (not by design but coz they never changed with time) with a great ambience, old school staff, good food for the prices that they charge but nowhere as good compared to the ’real thing’- be it European or Persian.
Peter Cat has been around for decades & that speaks a lot – Restaurants open very often & close down almost as often. The ones who survive the test of time surely have something good / unique to offer.
The décor as I mentioned above is retro in today’s context – red sofas facing each other & nice lamp shades above each table. The lighting is dim overall but the lamps on each table illuminate the table good enough to see each other, have a good chat & enjoy some good food. There are two floors & the way to top floor is as grand as it can get.
The dining Hall at Peter Cat & the Waiting staff in the background
Waiting staff look Grand as well, with their sherwani suits, flamboyant headgear & pointed shoes. Most of them are however quite Old School – smooth talking, knowledgeable, not overtly attentive but attentive as well, not quite warm, talks with an air of authority interspersed with some rare smiles & I guess quite bored of doing the same job for donkey’s years…… & that shows on their face. U will enjoy the evening if u think this to b a part of the package – dining at a retro restaurant & being served by people who r enacting the past:)
The food is good in general & at the prices that the food is offered, I wud say some are excellent. However, if u compare the non- Indian dishes to the original dishes the way they r, then u might b quite disappointed.
Awesome slim pizzas at fat Lulu’s that r cheaper & much superior than the average fare served by MNC pizzawalas. I pinched myself to ascertain whether I was dreaming or awake – as the food hit my tastebuds.
Pizza is a common snack that has become almost an indian food in a decade & half of its getting popularized. MNC pizzawalas like Dominoes Pizza, Pizza Hut etc rule the market with their ‘average to good but seldom outstanding’ breaded & other pizzas, mainly due to smart marketing. Then come the expensive ‘Italian’ restaurants like Tonino, Spagetti Kitchen etc which serve good pizzas but u easily end up spending Rs. 2000+. Good Budget Pizzas were a miss in general & Fat Lulu’s has just filled the void.
Make ur own pizza @ Fat Lulu’s
Between both of us we had 3 pizzas (8 inch) back to back for dinner & we kept craving for more………………….. alas our stomach pouches raised red flags beyond 3.
The Restaurant has a tiny ground floor which is essentially a home delivery & ‘pack’ section. A wooden staircase took us upstairs. I was impressed by the simplicity of the décor & the casual ambience. On one end was the Wood fired pizza Oven & the rest of the room was dining chairs & tables. Tables are for 2 people & they were being joined in different permutations & combinations by the staff to accommodate 4 or 6 or 8 guests together.
Inside Fat Lulu’s
Each table had 3 things – chili flakes, herbs seasoning & most importantly olive oil, in addition to the usual salt, pepper etc.
olive oil on every table
The menu card is a one pager & has an interesting concept: The menu card read – ‘Pick ur base, size, topping & cheese – we wud do the rest’ or ‘choose from our selection of Pizzas’. See the picture below for understanding how the matrix works.
Pricing matrix as of oct 2012
Example. We chose an 8 inch vegetarian pizza with a choice of any 4 toppings. That made it Rs.250. We then chose 1 non vegetarian topping. Those were for Rs. 75 each. So our pizza came for Rs. 325.
As mentioned above we were shocked to find the pizzas so good. They were not gourmet kinds that u get in Hilton / Park Hotel but they were excellent.
For beverages the only option is lipton ice tea / soft carbonated drinks.
The staff members seemed to be new to the job & still learning. However, they tried their best to be helpful. The owner lady was always at the floor & constantly supervising the floor. I was amazed to see that she actually was helping the staff in relocating & re-setting the furniture as well.
An Italian food shop that serves better food than most Italian Food Restaurants in Delhi NCR – our tastebuds had a superb time here.
facade of the restaurant
Address & other details:Ask any auto wallah to take u to the Gol Market – Its easy to spot Mediterraneo in that super tiny market.
Meal for 2: Rs. 600 onwards
YUMM lamb preparation @ Mediterraneo, Khajuraho
Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian
Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:
This Restaurant is advertised as an airconditioned Italian Restaurant with ‘Italian Chef & Dutch supervision’. The restaurant is located on the first floor – one has to enter a narrow alley to go upstairs. As we climbed up to the first floor, we realized that the Restaurant had 3 sections in it – First was an open area with cement tables (that were smartly colored) & plastic chairs.
Open air seating @ Mediterraneo, Khajuraho
The middle section had beamed ceiling like yester-years & stone slabs atop those (in place of a ‘dhalai’ cement ceiling). Ceiling fans hanging from the beams. At the end of the room was a wood & glass showcase as is commonly seen in people’s homes – this was full of small antiquities & wooden handicrafts. The walls had beautiful rustic indian pictures & paintings.
Non A/C middle section @ Mediterraneo, Khajuraho
Towards the end, there was an air conditioned restaurant section. Since we walked in at 12.00 noon, we asked the Guy at the Restaurant to guide us to the A/C section. He said with a very polite tone – ‘Sorry sir, we have not yet opened the A/C section as it is unviable for only 2 guests. As more & more people walk in, we will start the A/C. Request you to sit in the Middle section.’ He said this in a very open & informal way, with a lot of honesty – I appreciated the same.
Wood fired Stone oven in which YUMM pizzas are baked @ Mediterraneo, Khajuraho
We sat in the middle section. Surprisingly it was good – even after 3-4 hours of walking in the sun seeing the historical monuments in Khajuraho. On a later visit, we saw a large cooler being brought in as well. The view was not bad & the place was quite airy too.
While climbing up I had noticed a washroom at the ground floor – it was however on lock & keys. I figured out much later that for using the washroom I had to ask the staff – they wud give a key & I wud have to use the washroom, lock it back & return the keys upstairs!!!
The staff was very polite & warm. I came to know that this Restaurant was started by a European lady & now it is run by one of her Indian acquaintances.
Thin crust Pizza @ Mediterraneo, Khajuraho
The food was the focus here & I was pleasantly shocked to find such good food at Khajuraho. Not too many restaurants even in Delhi can make as good thin crust pizza as Mediterraneo makes in their Wood fired Stone Oven. The pasta served here is ‘home made’ as well. Meats & Salads options r too good. For desserts in-house made crepes of different kinds hogged the limelight
Super tiny & quite a cool place to hang out, retro music, books on the shelf to pick & read, good for catching up with a friend, a quick date (maybe not the first), reliving nostalgic high school moments & so on……. amidst some good food
Sakley’s
Address & other details: Sakley’s
Meal for 2: Rs. 500 onwards
very interesting pasta
Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian
banana toffee pie
Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:
The shop board made with Wood reminds of similar eateries up in the Himalayas. The eatery is tiny with a very warm decor. Seating is with simple lightweight & good looking metal-wood combo furniture. Huge retro posters adorn the walls. Retro music plays in the background quite loud – Good enough to let u talk with ur partner while njoying the music at the same time. The ceiling is too curious – It looks like ‘made of logs’. Beyond the super tiny seating area is a pastry counter that showcases some really ‘mouth-watering look cakes’.
the interiors – with the pastry counter in the background
As I mentioned above, the space is small & the seating is packed – so chances that u will hear the debates / discussions of the next table & vice versa but thankfully nothing of that sort happened to us. While people came & went, it was never 100% full & hence the table next to us was empty for the 2 hrs we spent here.
the good sandwich
As we sat, we came across a very cool writeup on Sakley’s – Must admit that after reading this, I remembered my ‘high school’ day romances & I was lucky that the same person I romanced back then, was sitting right in front of me here at Sakley’s 🙂 & over the next 1 hour I watched the sun setting in her backdrop.
the Legend of Sakley’s
The menu card was cool – great concept & good artwork. Someone really used a lot of dimaag while conceptualizing this. Sadly, it was badly physically mangled at the corners – the lamination had gone for a toss. Reprinting / relamination doesn’t cost a lot & is surely due for the menu cards here.
the menu card at Sakley’s
Food was better than I had expected here. Drinks were good but not ‘I have not have it so good ever’ variety. The portions of food were huge. So cud not try much at a go. Will try some more variety sometime later.
Another view of walls & ceiling of Sakley’s
Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
An Indian foodie’s experience of American & European food in USA vs.& comparison with same dishes available in India.
In a nutshell: Tried eating a whole lot of different things & hit rate of good vs. not good was just too high.
Address & other details: Phoenix Downtown Sheraton
Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian
Meal for 2:US$ 60 onwards
Description:
A stay in this Hotel for a week gave me an opportunity to eat different kinds of food. Here is the story of those.
First day in the Hotel, we went for the breakfast buffet. A simple Breakfast spread in which each & every item was good – the sauteed potatoes with a strong taste, the crispy bacon with a juicy aftertaste, the outstanding flavorful sausage that was uneven, lumpy & juicy within, the simple yet tasty scrambled eggs that had much less salt than what an Indian wud expect in an egg dish, a bit of salsa & another cool bread called ‘biscuit’. The ‘biscuit’ was flaky from outside & very soft within. It had a good flavor & was good to b eaten on its own.
Loved the breakfast at Phoenix Downtown Sheraton
I tried ‘Cedar Roasted Organic Salmon’. Interesting – not heard of wood grilled Salmon in too many places in India. The huge fillet of grilled salmon was placed on a bed of potatoes & veggies. It was served ‘perfectly grilled’, garnished with aromatic herbs. The fish was flaky & nice within – thoroughly enjoyable.
Cedar roasted Organic Salmon
I also tried the All American Burger with an 8 oz hamburger patty. For filling it had lettuce, tomatoes, onions, Dill Mayo, & Schreiner’s Bacon………all in one!!!!! I enjoyed the burger with mustard sauce on some bites. Interesting &Very Good – I guessthe patty wud have beenjuicier &better if I wud have had it as soon as the patty was made. Room service meant there was a transit time& hence the patty was on the borderline of being ‘dry’.
All American burger
A very interesting food that I had here was the ‘Garden Veggie Thin crust Pizza’. It was thinner than any thin crust I have ever had anywhere. We had this with extra topping of Italian Pepperoni. Unlike any other Pizza I have seen before, this one was square!!!!The crust was super thin – almost like a chapati / roti – crispy towards the corner.
Garden veggie thin crust pizza with extra pepperoni topping
Super loved the taste, texture, juiciness & everything about it exceptthe excessive cheese. Excess Cheese than a normal Homosapean can manage in 1 meal – it being the USA.
I am not a big fan of Buffets coz in most places buffets aim at ‘eating a large variety at less than collective alacarte price’ & also ‘popular version that shud be liked by all’ kind of mindset. Among the buffets that have left a mark on my mind are – the brunch at 19 Oriental Avenue, Shangrila Hotel Delhi……………. & now Sen5es got added to that list.
Colorful decoration on the wall
The buffet here is of 5 kinds: Continental & Desserts, Oriental & Desserts, Italian & Desserts, Indian & Desserts – all for Rs. 900 per person (including taxes). The fifth option is all of the above sections – Rs 1700 per person (including taxes). Let me tell u that unless u have the appetite of Bhima (Mahabharata), u shud stick to any of the first four.
We chose the Italian option & at the end of 2 hrs we just managed to roll out of the restaurant – smiling.
Zooming in – Dining hall
As mentioned above, the setting is visually very nice – the three sections have their own visual merchandizing. The people are very warm, informed, helpful & nice. I just hope they continue to be the same in future once the crowds increase.
The food was excellent – what made a difference was the attention to detail & the passion to be perfect in each & every dish of that large spread.
Detailed description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:
